


The Whomping Willow Incident

by LesMisgayrables



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fifth Year, Full Moon, Gen, Marauders, Whomping Willow Incident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-12-18 02:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LesMisgayrables/pseuds/LesMisgayrables
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'The Whomping Willow Incident' and how James saved Severus' life. What happened on the Marauders' fifth year. It all started with Sirius and Severus' exposed underpants, and a bad heavy prank.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Whomping Willow Incident

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this two years ago and only now do I have the courage to post it somewhere. Sorry for James' swearing - in my defense, he was really pissed off. Hope you like it.

“Oi, Black!” Severus called after him, pulling his pants up from the ground.

“Whaddup, Snivelly?” Sirius grinned and turned his face, “Jolly good day to be out in the Grounds, yeah?” he said merrily. The small crowd that had gathered to see Snape’s worn-out underwear laughed, and his face turned a shade of red worthy of a Gryffindor.

“You, Black, are a filthy, disgusting blood traitor with an embarrassing amount of ego. No wonder you fit in with your pathetic friends, and no wonder your family despises you.” Severus spat at him.

“Oh, don’t you say that to me, Snivellus. At least I _have_ a family!” he raised his eyebrows, and Snape scowled. “And what is your business with what we do? Do you watch our backs, snotty? Do you happen to fancy one of our pretty arses?” the crowd laughed again. Severus walked towards him, wand raised, and Sirius turned to face his foe completely, raising a wand of his own loosely, with a bored expression on his face. “Are you really asking me to embarrass you again? I would’ve thought you’ve had enough.”

“ _Expelliarmus!_ ”

“ _Protego._ ” Sirius yawned. The spell Severus had cast rebounded on Sirius’ shield and hit him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. “ _Siriusly_ ,” Sirius chuckled at his own joke, “don’t you know when to shut up?” the crowd stared in awe at his quick reflexes. Severus stood up, and snarled.

“I’ve had enough, alright! I’ve had _enough!_ ” he started towards Sirius.

“ _Locomotor Mortis!_ ” the Marauder smiled proudly at the result of his spell: Snape was unable to walk, his legs trapped in their current position, and his arms wobbling, trying to somehow impulse his body out of the spell. “Have a good day, Snivelly.” he turned away and started walking.

“Tell Lupin to have a nice time next Monday night!” Severus yelled at him, and smiled when his comment had the desired effect. Sirius turned very slowly, processing what he had said. Next Monday was the full moon’s night.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he frowned, and the Slytherin smirked. When Sirius saw his smug expression, he advanced towards him in a menacing manner, and when he was inches away from him, he placed the tip of his wand inthe flinching man’s neck firmly. The crowd had taken a step back, noticing the sudden change of demeanour.

“It means that I’m surprised he received the acceptance letter,” Snape hissed, so no one but them could hear, “and that I wish he has a very long Monday night.” they looked at each other’s eyes in a glaring contest, to see who would recoil or break the stare first. Their breaths were loud and they mirrored the same expression of hatred.

“Maybe you could come over to the Whomping Willow on Monday, if you’re so wishing Remus has a good night, Snape.” Sirius growled quietly after a minute of glaring.

“Sirius Black!” came a woman’s voice from somewhere in the crowd. The black haired boys glared at each other one more second, and turned their heads to see a redhead glaring at them both. Sirius could hear an actual whimper escaping Snape’s throat. She had ended their friendship not one week ago. “Ten points from Gryffindor.” she said slowly, emphasising each word, and then turned to Sirius, “Go. Now! _Leave!_ ”

“As you wish, Madame. Take your greasy black mop of a boyfriend with you.” he sneered at them both, and the crowd reacted with gasps and giggles.

“He is _not_ my friend,” Evans’ hands clenched, and Snape looked away. Sirius shrugged.

“ _Finite!_ ” Sirius said, his wand pointed at Snape, and then walked away. Severus could feel his legs again, and took a testing step towards Lily, to watch her reaction, but she immediately glared at him and walked away with the crowd, her back to him. He looked down, sadness written all over his face, and then remembered Black’s invitation.

 

“You did _what?!_ ” James shouted, “What the hell is wrong with you, Sirius?!”

“Oh, c’mon, Prongs, it’s just a heavy prank. The git deserves it.” Sirius followed James with his eyes.

Remus Lupin sat in his bed, pale, livid, and free of emotion; but his eyes were wide and filled with terror. Peter stood near the door of the bathroom, with a shocked, disbelieving stare towards Sirius.

“A prank? Do you think this is funny, Sirius?! You have threatened his bloody _life_!You have threatened Remus’ stay on Hogwarts!”

“I could go to Azkaban.” Remus whispered, being unable to produce a sound louder than that.

“You’re taking this too seriously, you three,” Sirius said loudly and rolled his eyes, trying to make his point. “Nothing will happen!”

“You son of a bitch! Who are you?! You stupid shithead!” James practically screamed at him, and Sirius couldn’t help but flinch. James had never been so aggressive to him.

“No. No, Sirius. This is too wrong,” Peter said slowly. “This is too dangerous. Tell Snape to ignore what you said.”

“He won’t!” Remus said loudly, and everyone turned to him. “He won’t choose to forget what Sirius said! Severus Snape is not a person to back down; he _will_ go to the Whomping Willow on Monday night! He _will_ try to prove himself that he guessed my nature right! Why, Sirius? Why would you do that to me? And why would you threaten someone’s life like that? I don’t care how much you hate Severus or what he said, it is _life_ what you’ve put at risk!” his jaw trembled, and then, a few angry tears escaped his eyes at once; he closed his bed’s curtains, and started sobbing quietly in fear. Sirius looked away, and ignored the stinging he felt where the other two Marauders were staring murderously at.

“Moony, I —”

“— Don’t talk to him. Don’t talk to him, you stupid git.” James spat. His eyes were nothing more than slits; Sirius backed away. James turned his back at him and spoke firmly, “Go away,” when he didn’t hear Sirius move, he shouted, “ _I said go away!_ ” Sirius’ anger and hurt made him turn towards the door and slam it hard on his way out.

Monday came much too quickly.

It was the warmest, sunniest, most beautiful day Hogwarts had seen that year; even the Giant Squid and Filch were affected positively by it. However, the ones that were not affected in the slightest were Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and Severus Snape. The latter was rather anxious for whatever he might discover. The Marauders only spoke to Sirius when absolutely necessary — he didn’t even sleep in the dorm now; he’d claimed one of the sofas in the Common Room as his, and they hadn’t done anything remotely Marauder-esque for the last four days. The other Gryffindors noticed all of this, but didn’t question it.

Remus Lupin followed Madame Pomfrey glumly to the Whomping Willow. His head was down and his eyes closed when he muttered the spell to freeze the branches temporarily. He watched as the school’s Healer walked out of view, and continued walking down the path to the small, uncomfortable, suffocating prison that had grown to be his home once every month. He waited.

An hour later, he heard the sound fabric made when being scratched. He was scared to the bone, guessing Severus Snape was behind him. _No!_ , he thought, _He followed me!_ He turned around, expecting a menacing wand. However, he wasn’t met with a scornful glare in a black-haired Slytherin, but with a timid black dog with his head down, looking at him pleadingly. He couldn’t help but beam at him and scratch behind his ears.

“Apology accepted.” he gave the dog a small crooked smile, and patted the space next to him in the old red couch he was sitting in. The big black dog obediently made his way across the room, climbed to the couch, and made himself comfortable, resting his snout on the man’s legs, who ran his hand through the dog’s fur to calm his nerves, making it exhale air contently.

James and Peter hadn’t noticed when the black dog dove to the entrance of the passageway. If they had, they would’ve stopped it.

“Here it comes.” James whispered under the invisibility cloak.

“I should go.” Peter looked at the lowering sun, and transformed into a rat. He sneaked under the cloak and to the hidden entrance the same way he sneaked through the ravished rooms of the balancing shack. He stopped suddenly when he saw Remus caressing the dog form of Sirius, and wondered what he was doing there. He made a squeaking noise to the werewolf; a sign that the moment was here, and Remus stood up, giving Sirius one last pat in the head. Then, he felt a stabbing pain run all the way from inside the back of his head, to the heels of his feet. Like an axe splitting his body in half at the speed of sound, without killing him.

Resisting the urge to scream, he took off the white thin robe the school provided to him, and crouched, holding his head. _I mustn’t scream, I mustn’t make noise, I mustn’t_ — “AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”

James looked up from his hiding spot and to the place where the piercing scream came from, and almost whimpered in pain himself at not being able to be there for his friend. He felt guilty and betraying, and had the sudden urge to run to aid him. Until he heard a gasp. He opened the eyes he didn’t know were closed, and looked around, cursing the time his eyes took to get used to the darkness. A minute later, he saw a dark figure looking down the entrance to the passageway, and felt a pang of fear.

The wolf howled, and scratched his face, wanting to get rid of the pain and the salty tears that only made his gashes hurt more. His mouth grew bigger and bigger to be a snout; every cell in his body multiplying at a painful pace. His legs grew, and his feet shrunk; like his pain and his humanity respectively. His eyes darted from the inside of his skull to the ceiling, and from the two animals in the same room to his hybrid feet. After uncountable seconds — or maybe hours, he wasn’t sure, the pain subsided, and the wolf howled again, but this time, in victory: he had survived.

He eyed the two creatures curiously, and somehow remembered there was usually another animal with him; a deer, he thought. He was disappointed that the deer wasn’t with him this time. The dog approached cautiously, and he perked up in interest. It walked to the wolf’s left side, and threw his frontal paws over his back, and bit at his ear playfully. Then, he remembered. _Sirius. This is Sirius Black, and I am Remus Lupin. The rat is Peter Pettigrew. They are my friends. James is somewhere outside. He is also my friend, and he didn’t forget me. I am Remus Lupin, and I am a human, not a wolf._

He tried his best to smile at the two Animagi in front of him, and they barked and squeaked in response. Just then, the scent of human blood entered his flared nostrils, and his eyes darkened, forgetting what he had just remembered. _Blood._ Instinctually, he jumped to the door and sprinted his way down the numerous sets of stairs. Humans had approached him, and he wanted to taste their blood. The stairs eventually came to an end, and in a small tunnel in the ground, there was a male human; black haired, and face contorted in fear. It was so close, so close!

 

“NO!!!” James jumped to Severus and tackled him to the ground, a few feet away from the entrance of the Whomping Willow, just as it started moving again, the spell having worn off. “Take my hand, Severus!!” the Slytherin didn’t wait to be called twice; he grabbed James Potter’s hand and let him lead the way. He tripped and fell every few seconds thanks to the outgrown tree roots, but James always pulled him back up and manoeuvred their way through the Forbidden Forest expertly, easily. Severus couldn’t speak, or grunt, or blink, or breathe. Right then, he only knew fear. _Thud-thud, thud-thud, thud-thud_ , his heartbeat was in his head, along with ‘ _Left, right, left, right, left, right_ ’, reminding him how to move forward.

Meanwhile, the wolf howled again and again in anger, frustration, and hunger. The dog kept trying to walk to him, and he kept slapping and smacking him away. That creature had jumped over him just as he was about to pounce for his prey. The wolf growled, barked, snarled, and injured the dog with his claws, but the dog still wouldn’t let him out of the tunnel, even though it was limping slightly and whimpering. The rat hid cowardly behind the cushions of a sofa, and he walked to it, snarling.He pawed it and trapped it with his limbs, entertained with its fear. _Silly little rat_ , the wolf thought, snickering. _Wait…_ , his head snapped up. _I think. I’m no animal_ , he started recalling the events of the night, horrified. The dog silently observed as the werewolf’s pupils shrunk back to normal.

 

“Let’s go to Dumbledore.” James took Severus’ face between his hands when he didn’t answer. “We have to go to Professor Dumbledore and tell him what happened,” Severus nodded excessively, and then continued following James out of the mass of trees towards the moonlit castle.

“Thank you.” Severus breathed almost silently, not really meaning to be heard; however, James’ Animagus hearing caught it perfectly. He looked briefly at the scared black haired boy behind him and jerked his head once, letting him know he acknowledged his words.

“And I am sorry.” he said in a normal voice. Severus knew James didn’t want this to happen; it had all been thanks to Black. He had noticed the way the three of them ignored him. He knew the Marauders weren’t as horrible as to do that. Well, the Marauders minus Black.

 

Professor Dumbledore summoned the five of them to his office the next day.

“You shall not mention a word about Mr Lupin’s nature,” the Professor assessed Severus. “It is of crucial importance that you remain quiet, and don’t repeat what you saw.” Severus nodded twice, and looked away.

“Professor, I—”

“— Now, Mr Black: your actions were irresponsible, immature, extremely dangerous, and unjustified. What do you suggest we do about that? You know you could’ve seriously damaged not one, but three lives.” he looked at him severely, and Sirius felt like he shrunk to a tenth of his normal size.

“I should be expelled.” he gulped.

“Why should I do that?” Albus pressed.

“Because I was stupid, and what I did was very wrong.” he closed his eyes and tried to digest what was happening.

“Sir… are you saying you won’t expel him?” Remus said cautiously, not daring to look at anyone except his headmaster, who turned to him, and smiled the most subtle smile.

“Why do you think that, Mr Lupin?”

“Because that would mean revealing my… my problem, and it wouldn’t only affect Sirius’ stay on Hogwarts, but also mine, and possibly yours, headmaster.”

“Precisely, Mr Lupin. We cannot afford to reveal any of this information. You are a fine student, and a fine example for younger people; you do not deserve to be expelled of this school because of the unimportant fact of your condition.” James audibly sighed in relief and closed his eyes; Severus grimaced, Peter remained still, and Sirius looked at Remus and Dumbledore in disbelief. _They are going to spare this?_ , the thought of this alone left him agape.

“That means we’re going to pretend this didn’t happen.” James mumbled in comprehension.

“Indeed. Alas, something _did_ happen, and while no one will be expelled, or even sent to detention for this, we will take away House Points,” Remus nodded in agreement. “Perhaps it would be appropriate if Mr Lupin decided how many points to take from the House of Gryffindor, seeing as he’s a prefect.” Albus nodded once to Remus, who gulped.

“Ninety points from Gryffindor, for indiscipline, irresponsibility, stupidity, immaturity, and for being a complete git.” Remus said after a few moments, and Albus smiled.

“Very well. Ninety points will be taken from Gryffindor, and ten points will be taken from Slytherin,” Severus looked up, and before he could open his mouth, Albus continued, “because, after all, Mr Snape was out of bed after curfew.

“But I believe fourty points to Gryffindor is a fair compensation for Mr Potter’s actions. He did save one life and three students’ education.” James looked up at the headmaster, and smiled slightly in gratitude. “Very well, students. Off to bed, now. Peep-peep!” He stood up from his chair, and the boys did the same, “No details, please. Sweet dreams.” the five of them looked at each other confusedly; what did that last part mean?

Two days later, everyone in school was informed of James’ heroic actions, and Dumbledore’s words suddenly held meaning to the involved persons. They kept their promise, and only said that James had saved Severus from something in the Whomping Willow.

It took more than two weeks of sorrow, regret, apologies and pleading stares for the Marauders to fully trust Sirius again.


End file.
